Black Ice
by Chioniie
Summary: Dahlia Stanely is Jessica Stanely's cousin from Santa Monica, California. She moved to Forks Washington after her mother died in a car accident, her father uprooted her and took her back to his hometown where he believes she will be safer. Everything changes when Bella and the Cullens move into town, and certain secrets come to the surface.
1. Chapter 1

Dahlia was sitting on the bleachers of Forks High School next to her cousin, Jessica Stanley, who was gossiping with the fellow cheerleaders about some information of influx of new students. _"They're from Alaska, and I hear they're all adopted!"_ No doubt she had pulled strings with the student office assistant, Tyler, to get information about them. Which Dahlia believed to be highly illegal. Dahlia was going through her phone, looking at text messages that she had received the previous night while she was asleep when Jessica suddenly grabbed it. Annoyed, but retaining her facial expression, Dahlia looked up – brow quirked. "Are you paying attention? We're talking about the dress up days for the football games."

Ah yes, how could Dahlia forget? "I'm all ears, 'cuz." Dahlia replied before slowly returning her gaze back to her phone. Because her cousin was in fact, Jessica Stanley, it went without saying that Dahlia was practically dragged into whatever Jessica was interested in. And Jessica has been interested in cheerleading since the two girls were in second grade. Jessica was captain, and Dahlia was co-captain, being that they were in the same grade Dahlia would never be captain of the cheerleading team – not that the girl cared that much. One look at her and you wouldn't think that she was a cheerleader. She had wild, curly red hair, pale skin and freckles splashed across her face. Her clothing style, was the exact opposite of her cousin, dark clothes and band t-shirts that no one expected the Stanley girl to listen to. She managed to attract a few edgy boyfriends in the past, which Jessica managed to scare off – which was a shame since Dahlia liked her last boyfriend, Everett.

Everett went to a school closer to Port Angeles, and as a result it caused Dahlia to spend more time with him. Which Jessica didn't like since she liked having her minions at beck and call. "What about a cowboy day? As a homecoming day?" Dahlia suggested numbly as she continued scrolling through her phone. Her nose scrunched up at the latest news headline – another animal attack close to Seattle. They seemed to be making their way closer and closer to Forks, whatever it was, Dahlia hoped that the police caught it.

"That's not half bad, D!" Jessica said happily. It was an overused attire that Dahlia didn't see her cousin agreeing to in a thousand years, however she was pleasantly surprised that Jessica took this bit as a sign of Dahlia contributing to the cheer squad for the day. Other than tumbling, Dahlia couldn't be bothered with the squad much at all. She knew that there were other girls that wanted her title, and she would happily give it to them if Jessica wasn't such a bitch about it. "There's a different new girl, too, she's _Isabella Swan_!" Dahlia perked up at this – as she tore her gaze away from her phone to look at her cousin. "I knew that would get your attention. She's moving back to Forks, her mom is abandoning her for some baseball guy – how sad. You know what would be great?" _No, please don't-_ "If she joined the squad and reunited with her bestie."

Dahlia wanted to groan, from what she can remember Bella was the least coordinated person on the planet. She still loved her, despite this, Dahlia remembered going over to Chief Swan's house during countless summers since third grade. He made Bella go to some art camp at the city hall, to make her get acquainted with kids in Forks, not just becoming isolated at La Push where she seemed to have a decent comfort zone in. "She didn't text me and tell me...I wonder why." After Bella decided to go incognito when the two were thirteen, Dahlia managed to keep in touch with her through emails, phone calls, and now texting. However, in the weeks leading up to Bella's apparent arrival – there was no hide nor tail of Bella's plan to Dahlia.

"Maybe she wanted to surprise you, D?" Jessica said – suddenly realizing that her cousin was being serious. "I mean, it's hard to surprise you when you won't even tell people what you want for your birthday." She tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it failed to deliver the message that Dahlia wanted to find within it. Maybe Bella didn't trust her anymore? That was the only logical reason that Dahlia could find within her soul, so flustered, and in a hurry she quickly gathered her things. "D, sit down – it'll be fine, I promise!"

"I need to go get my things for my first class, I'll see you in Spanish." Dahlia mumbled before gracefully making her exit down the bleachers. In the process, she passed by some students she never saw before but didn't really have the intent on ogling at as she guess that they were the new students. _Poor bastards, they'll be looked at like science experiments for the rest of their lives. Welcome to Hell._ If Dahlia had paid attention she would have saw the one with auburn hair crack a smile as she thought this, but she didn't she pressed on until she managed to make her way to the main building where she began scrounging around for her AP English book.

"Hey." Dahlia jumped and turned, seeing a girl with long chestnut brown hair and pale skin. She seemed to be embarrassed, to which Dahlia raised a brow until she realized who it was and hugged the girl. "Nice to see you too, Doll." She said while wrapping her arms around her. "Sorry I didn't message you, I was having a tough time scrounging up everything together – and then Mom was trying to talk me out of it, and Phil was being supportive-"

"It's fine." Dahlia smiled at her as she said this, while tucking some of her wild, red hair behind her ear as she looked at Bella. "You definitely grew up, it took me a minute to recognize you." Bella seemed to have gotten redder at this which caused the other to laugh. "And still easy to fluster! I wonder if Jake still has a crush on you."

"He does not, and he did not have a crush on me."

"Yes he did! I can't believe you didn't see it, it was utter puppy love." Dahlia said with another laugh as Bella glared at the taller girl. "So, where's your first class?" Bella began explaining her schedule to her and Dahlia was happy that she had Spanish with her, as well as gym. "I have AP English, but I can show you to your calculus class. You need to tell me about what you've been up to these past few years." Dahlia already knew, but she knew that Bella also left details out on purpose so that Dahlia wouldn't worry or question what was going on. Bella explained how she was a mathlete, and joined a book club in Phoenix which wasn't a surprise to Dahlia to how much the teenager reads on a daily bases. "We have one of those here, a book club I mean – you should join it, you would love it." Dahlia said as they stopped outside of Bella's classroom.

Bella seemed reluctant to go in, but she still managed to give a half-assed smile to Dahlia who grinned right back at her. It wouldn't be that bad, Dahlia knew, the first day was always the scariest – and she knew how Bella would stress about the smallest things, however, Dahlia also knew that if Bella had Dahlia to rely on she would be a little bit more at ease. She found great comfort in knowing that someone she already knew was within walking distance if ever needed. "Also, my cousin – Jess – she is going to try like hell to convince you to join the cheer team," surprise flashed in Bella's eyes and Dahlia wanted to wince, knowing that she never really talked about how she was still on the cheer team. Bella thought that Dahlia quit back in eighth grade. "If you don't want to, just try to let her down easily – or beat around the bush. Trust me, you do _not_ want her as an enemy here."

Bella nodded, before peering into the classroom that was slowly filling up. "I should get going," She began. "But it was really nice seeing you again, Doll." Dahlia smiled before giving the girl another hug and waving her off. She then headed off to her own AP English class, school having been in session for a little bit over a half-semester. It was odd, Dahlia noted, how they did gain an influx of students – though she knew Bella's motives – as for the other new students, she had no idea who they were or how they managed to find this shit hole of a town. Dahlia sighed as she plugged her headphones in, walking into her classroom that was slightly full – and when scanning the back row, surprised that someone was sitting next to her seat.

Dahlia wanted to groan as she hated socializing, what made it even worse was that it was one of the new students. He had blonde hair and honey colored eyes that looked to be an extremely light shade of brown, he also had a pale complexion but looked like he needed to sleep for a couple of days. Normally, Dahlia would have decided to sit somewhere else, but since it was the middle of the semester and every seat was already claimed – save for the one that the blond haired guy was sitting in – she instead held her head up higher and walked back to her seat, plopping her bag down next to her desk before taking her seat. She saw out the corner of her eye how the guy seemed to be extremely uncomfortable, and when she walked back to the desk it seemed to have only been worse.

_He probably thinks I'm going to bother him_. Not wanting to intrude on the dude, she allowed her hair to separate the two as she turned her attention to her phone – her music playing softly in her headphones. She could feel him looking at her, it unnerved her but she tried to keep her attention on her phone as she gathered her things and put them on her desk rather quickly – she wasn't wanting to talk, and she didn't think he was either. However, while her hair may seem to be thick it was easy for her to see through the veil that she had created for her and her new neighbor. His hands were clenched, so was his jaw, she only noticed this because he seemed to be constantly messing with his hands – as if he needed to keep them busy. _Maybe he has ADHD. _Is what Dahlia thought, but then she saw the glare that had formed on his attractive face.

He looked utterly pissed that Dahlia was sitting next to him, not that she cared – he shouldn't have taken the seat next to her. Dahlia blew out a puff of air and noticed how he leaned away. _Does my breath stink that fucking bad?_ She did a subtle breath test before noticing that it still had the minty smell, so she wondered what his problem was.

When the teacher walked in, Dahlia was grateful to say the least. Class droned on and on, but Dahlia didn't mind. English always made her happier in the long run as she loved reading and writing. Cheerleading used to make her happy until Jess decided to become a tyrant with it. Dahlia jumped when the bell ring, nearly shrieking at how fast the guy next to her seemed to have darted from the room. When he was gone, she was approached by Angela Webber – a girl that Dahlia befriended and Jessica allowed into their inner circle. Angela was a shy girl who was really sweet, something that Dahlia thought that the world needed. "What did you do to him, Dahlia?" Angela joked and Dahlia rolled her eyes.

"I tried to keep myself separated from him as best as I could, he looked pissed that I sat next to him when he picked the seat next to mine." Dahlia sighed and exited the classroom, noticing how there were other of the new students in the hallway – lingering at their lockers, but the blonde guy seemed to be talking to some girl with a pixie haircut. On cue, when Dahlia took notice of her – she also took notice of Dahlia. The girl smiled and waved, to which Dahlia stopped, wondering what to do. Dahlia gave a small wave back before following Angela – hiding from the blondie as he quickly turned around to see who the girl was waving at. "Well she seemed nicer than the other." Dahlia muttered as she deposited books and picked some up from her locker.

"He looked like you killed the family dog, maybe he's just having a bad day." Angela said with a shrug. "I wouldn't stress too much about it, apparently they all move around a lot because of their parents – Dad's a doctor, Mom's a home interior designer I think. They're all adopted." Some of the perks that came with Angela: smart, loyal, mom friend, and school newspaper journalist. Angela probably either had to interview all of the new students, Bella included, or was going to. Dahlia wanted to smirk when she thought of the idea of Bella being in the paper – she'll hate it. Dahlia wanted her to be in the paper though, Bella was just like Angela in a sense, however, she was a bit reluctant to fight for what she wanted sometimes. "I know all of their names, the blonde that sat by you is Jasper Hale-Cullen, his twin is Rosalie Hale-Cullen," Angela nodded to the only blonde girl over there before listing off the other siblings.

_Alice, Emmett, Edward._ Their names were very...old sounding, in the best way possible. It sounded like they came from a different time, which was refreshing to the everyday names that Dahlia knew throughout the high school. "Uh oh." Angela muttered. "Jessica, three o'clock." Dahlia's attention was turned to Jessica who seemed to be sprinting towards them, causing a lot of the students to stare at the head cheerleader as she made her way down the hall – Dahlia saw Edward and Jasper look at her as she ran down. "Hey, Jess." Angela said.

"What's up, 'cuz." Dahlia responded before tucking some hair behind her ear, annoyance already filling her entire being when she noticed Jessica taking glances at the Cullens. _For fucks sake, leave them alone._ Dahlia thought, to which she didn't see Edward's facial response – but if she did, she probably would have thought that his surprise came from one of his siblings' conversations.

"So, I found out that we have Spanish with Bella," _Probably through Tyler._ "And I also have trig with her! I'll be able to talk her into joining the team before gym, just you wait." The idea of Bella fumbling around entered Dahlia's mind, and Dahlia couldn't help but crack a smile at the image as all she can remember of Bella is her trying, and failing, to do gymnastics with Dahlia when they were younger. "I might also sweeten the deal by telling her that you'll help her with training."

"Jess, she probably won't join – she barely survived gymnastics when we were like seven." Dahlia tried to explain, but she knew that it was a lost cause as when Jess becomes set on a certain idea it'll be hell to try and get her to deter off of it. Angela chuckled at this while Jess seemed to have become annoyed at Dahlia's statement, but rolled her eyes before walking ahead of them to their Spanish class. Dahlia wondered if Bella was already at class or if she would be running late. "If she does join, she might not like it immediately – she was the same way with gymnastics." Dahlia offered to her cousin, who's glare momentarily subsided when Dahlia suggested this.

"Hopefully, I would like to be able to go to competitions before Senior year, D." Jessica replied and Dahlia wanted to roll her eyes but avoided doing so. She kept her face forward as she passed the Cullens – hoping that Jessica would continue to talk about cheering and competitions and wouldn't bother the new students too much as she had planned on doing with Bella. Dahlia tried to avoid the burning stare, of what she presumed to be hatred, from Jasper Cullen and the curious – yet somewhat cautious looks of the others that she couldn't quite care about. She would do her best to avoid the Cullen that seemed to hate her for no apparent reason.

Spanish came and went, much to Dahlia's dismay as she wanted to spend more time with Bella but choir was next – her second favorite subject. She practically skipped into the practice room, but came to a screeching halt when she saw a mess of blonde hair standing at the front, in the middle of the arches of the chairs. Every student seemed to be staring out of Jasper in awe, while Dahlia only felt fear and annoyance. When his gaze turned to her, she was expecting that same hateful glare that she had received this morning only to find that he wasn't glaring at her just yet. She kept her guard up as she shuffled towards her seat, the second arch on one of the ends.

She felt his gaze on her as she made her way to her seat. The teacher entered shortly after her, a plump old woman who made new students stand at the front to access their vocal range. Dahlia was one of her top twenty-five students, that being she has been the number one student since her Freshman year of high school thanks to singing lessons from a young age. However, looking at Jasper, Dahlia knew if he could sing as good as he looks she would probably become the second best. Normally while she didn't care about cheerleading, singing was something different. This was a battle ground and she felt a cold sense of calculation dawn on her as Jasper observed the room. If he flinched from her stare, he didn't show it.

"Okay, Mr. Hale, belt out your best do re mi fa so la ti do." Mrs. Greene said and began counting him off and Dahlia felt defeat as she knew that she was demoted to second best. "You do sing well, however," Mrs. Greene's eyes flashed to Dahlia. "How do you do against my best student?" She asked and Dahlia felt fear creep up on her again. "Miss Stanley! Come down and introduce yourself to Mr. Hale." Wanting to groan, Dahlia stood up from her seat and made her way to the front. She stood in front of Jasper who was making eye contact with her – and he seemed to be tolerable towards her. "Well, don't just stand there – introduce yourself."

"I'm Dahlia Stanley, first soprano." Dahlia said with a tone of annoyance.

"I'm Jasper Hale," He said and Dahlia faltered when she heard his voice. It had a twang of a Southern accent – something that Dahlia, or anyone in the room, wasn't expecting. Her surprise must have been evident because the bastard had a smirk on his face that made Dahlia's anger seep back in. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Stanley."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Mr. Hale." Dahlia replied a bit angrily. Mrs. Greene then had the two do the scale by themselves and then harmonize with each other. Dahlia was ready to admit defeat when Mrs. Greene decided that Jasper would be the second best, but first tenor which Dahlia felt relief at. It was only when Mrs. Greene told everyone to return to their seats that Dahlia realized that she would be sitting in front of Jasper. Despair flowed through her body, and she wanted to smack her head into her music stand but refrained from doing so. His stare was enough to drive her up a wall, much less having him sit behind her.

Dahlia decided that she would do her best to ignore him and focus solely on this class while she could. It felt like an eternity until the bell rang, signaling that Dahlia should go to lunch and then gym. Dahlia hurriedly packed her things into her bag, ignoring the people around her as she would try her best to hurry up to go eat. She was stopped when she heard someone behind her cough. She whipped her head around and saw Jasper standing there – a glare wanting to form on her face but she fought it off the best she could until they were alone. Jasper seemed like he wanted to say something, but there seemed to be the same look on his face from earlier this morning. And as quickly as she had saw him, and was ready to open her mouth to say something against him – he turned his back to her and stalked off in the other direction.

With anger, and swears swelling up in her chest Dahlia grabbed her bag and went in the opposite direction – heading towards the cafeteria coming up with new swear to take her anger out on Jasper with. She passed by some of his siblings, and judging by her 'Go to Hell look' they started giving each other questioning glances when she left. Edward seemed to be stifling laughter, but knew the reason behind her current behavior.

Once in the lunchroom, Dahlia threw her bag down on the table that Jessica and the others sat at, no doubt Bella would be joining them for lunch. Jessica entered shortly after and saw her cousins expression before also depositing her bag and following her towards the lunch line. Dahlia was throwing whatever was within her reach onto her plate, and by the time she reached the end of the line did she realize how much food she actually had – but she also knew she would be eating every last bite of it. "D, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Jess. I don't know what you're talking about." Dahlia said as she paid for her lunch. Jessica followed her back to their table, where a meek Bella was sitting between their bags. She had a packed lunch from home that looked better than the cafeteria slop that the lunch ladies served every day. After they sat down, Dahlia launched into how Jasper Hale-Cullen was the worst person on the planet. "He had the audacity to be pissy with me during English, but then willingly introduce himself to me in fucking choir? And to top it all off, then become pissy again when we leave – what the fuck did I do to him?" Dahlia groaned as she stuffed some food into her face while Jess seemed to be taking in the information that her cousin relayed to her. Angela suddenly appeared, sitting behind her.

"Maybe he's just a dick." Jessica said with a shrug. The girls then lapsed into a different conversation, unaware of the Cullens taking glances at their table.

Edward had been listening in to all of the students on their thoughts about him and his siblings, and it wasn't anything less than what he was expecting._ Look how handsome he is! She is so beautiful, oh my gosh. _And many other compliments in sweet, and erotic fashion. Edward wasn't a stranger to how good looking his small, dysfunctional family was – however when Jasper came rushing out of English to join them, he was surprised when he heard, _That blonde headed guy is such a fucking prick._ It was a fleeting subconscious thought that the girl probably wouldn't remember she had, but when he saw the mess of red hair and glare on her face he knew that she was talking about his brother. Alice had a fleeting vision on the girl as her gaze locked with her, one too fast for Edward to fully process.

However the demeanor of the girl changed once she saw Alice smiling at her and she returned the favor. _Aw, she seems sweet._ Another subconscious thought but not one that Edward was expecting – he was expecting her to comment on her sister's looks – or even Jasper's – but she just took into an account of what she thought Alice might be: sweet. How right, but wrong, the girl was as Edward knew just how sour Alice could be whenever she wanted. It was then, that Jasper's thoughts entered Edward's mind and his eyes flickered back to the girl. "Are you sure?"

"I don't know what else would make me want to kill her." Jasper said a bit too nonchalantly for Edward's taste. "It took everythin' in me to not snap her neck in the middle of class."

"You'll learn to control it, Jasper." Alice soothed, patting his shoulder. "Try introducing yourself to her in your choir class, I can see it going one of two ways."

"Bein'?" Jasper asked.

"Either she thinks you're a gentlemen, or wants absolutely nothing to do with you." Alice said. Jasper seemed to have let this information sink in and he nodded before sauntering off towards his next class, Edward remained against the locker with the others. Even though they had gone to a thousand different schools a number of times, it could still be confusing to get familiar with the layout. Unless you were Edward and had walking maps everywhere. However, that wasn't the only reason why he stayed around his siblings. He was observing the girl, who was referred to as D by her friends, and when Jessica Stanley threw a glance at the Cullens a glare settled on to D's face. _For fucks sake, leave them alone._ This was a consious thought, and Edward saw brief flashes of when D was a new kid at Forks. She didn't want them to go through the same thing that she did whenever she came here.

That's why she wasn't dazzled by their beauty or differentness – not because they were vampires, but to her they were simply new kids who wanted to get through their first day of school alive and not draw a lot of attention to themselves. This shocked Edward, but he was brought out of his reverie when the girls walked past him and he heard her real name – Dahlia. Even though Jasper wouldn't mind sinking his teeth into the girl's neck, Edward also knew that Jasper would regret it and giving a name to the girl that seemed to be calling out for his brother to kill would be able for Jasper to take the edge off. A name meant that someone cared about her, a name meant that she was a person, a name meant that she was human. Edward then pushed himself up from his locker and walked off in the opposite direction to his English class – knowing that he would see his siblings at lunch and he would be able to help Jasper with some of the pain that he was going through.


	2. FIXED Chapter 2

It was nearly the end of the school day, and Dahlia had just gotten to the gym – Jessica was going to have the team do some basic workouts and then they would have practice as soon as the bell rings. Dahlia wouldn't be leaving from the school until about five or six, depending on how the practice went. And depending on if Bella was being formally recruited or not. The squeaking of gym shoes and basketballs, were just enough to distract Dahlia from what had been happening all day that day. Dahlia had made an effort to avoid one, Jasper Hale Cullen – however he was in her Trig class and choir class. Hell they even had lunch together and she could feel him glaring at her from the table that he sat at with his siblings. However, she knew that he didn't have gym with them – but that Alice did. Dahlia was actually looking forward to meeting Alice ever since they exchanged a small interaction within the hallway.

Dahlia nearly ran into a tall, lean pixie-cut girl at the front of the locker room and she nearly did a double take when she saw that it was the girl she had been previously thinking about. Alice flashed her a smile, a row of perfect teeth that made Dahlia's lips suction cup to her own – Dahlia's own were pristine, however she would bet all of her money on that Alice probably has never had a cavity while Dahlia has probably had about a few twenty or so. "Hello! My name is Alice Cullen, you must be Dahlia!" Alice said and when confusion crossed Dahlia's face, she saw that Alice's own seemed to have grown embarrassed, yet annoyed at the same time. "Sorry, my brother – Jasper – has been telling me so much about you. He said that you have an amazing singing voice," There was a pregnant pause, Dahlia was fighting the urge to run away and that was when Alice began talking again. "I want to apologize, for my brother's behavior earlier. He's normally not like that – he's actually the one that's more approachable than the rest of us." Alice said and Dahlia could see her concern.

"No worries, Alice. I completely understand, when I moved here I hated it too – I didn't expect him to be opening up to me on the first day." Dahlia said with a slight grin. "Uh, do you want to go get changed for gym?"

"Sure!" Alice said and to Dahlia's eyes it looked like she floated in to the locker room. Jessica emerged next and Dahlia nearly felt the emotions that Jessica was putting forth. Dahlia knew that Jessica would also want Alice on the team – but Dahlia didn't know if Alice would even want to be on the team.

"I don't know, didn't ask." Dahlia said as she pushed through to get into the locker room, Alice appeared to have ducked into one of the dressing rooms and Dahlia began stripping, changing in front of the lockers like most of the girls do. "If you want her on the team, you need to ask her yourself – like Bella." Dahlia said as she slipped on the cheer shorts and a spartan dressed in navy and gold on the baggy shirt that Dahlia pulled over her head and then swooped her auburn girls up into a high ponytail. "How did that go by the way? Did Bella tell you no?" Dahlia could see Bella making up a million excuses as to why she couldn't join the team, however Dahlia also knew that if Jess tempted Bella with the idea that she would be on the same team as her, she would probably join the team just for old times sake like when they were in gymnastics.

"She's changing right now, she said she'll stay for practice – I'm hoping she'll join." Jessica said with an eyebrow wiggle. "I told her that you would help her with tumbling, she's going to do workouts with us – I already talked to Coach Harrison about it, and he is fine with it." Dahlia was flabbergasted – Jessica really thought the entire thing through. Dahlia shouldn't have expected anything less from her cousin. "Speaking of which, if she does join – you do know her sizes right?"

"Jess-"

"It's fine." Bella said, and Dahlia turned to see Bella emerging from a dressing room. Her hair was pulled back away from her face, her skin looked paler than normal and Dahlia could see the bags under her eyes. No doubt she was loosing sleep about stress, moving to Forks. Bella always said how she hated Forks, how she hated the cloudy weather. She always preferred the sun, dry humidity. Dahlia wondered if Bella was truly okay with sacrificing her own happiness for her mother, but Dahlia also knew that it didn't matter to Bella. Bella had a sense of selflessness and selfishness that was perfectly balanced within her. Dahlia always knew this. "I figured I could give it a shot, and if I hate it – it's not a big deal right."

_Oh you gullible sweetheart._

"Yup! Now, c'mon, let's get to warming up!" Jessica said as she led the way out of the locker room, Dahlia and Bella trailing behind her at a much slower pace.

"You know that you don't have to do this, right? By agreeing to warm up with us and workout with us, Jess pretty much has already signed you up for the team." Dahlia explained and Bella laughed.

"I don't mind. Mom was telling me how I should do something new this year, get out of my comfort zone." Bella explained, Dahlia could see Rene saying something like that – after all she wanted Bella to be in ballet at one point in time. And when she found out that Bella had join gymnastics Rene was practically over the moon and has a whole scrapbook dedicated to the summer where Bella, Dahlia and Jessica all spent the entire days at Miss Holly's Hoppers Gym. Even now, Dahlia was still apart of the gym – her and Jess both were but it was to perfect their tumbling skills that they haven't been able to use due to lack of competitions. And while they may mess around with some new tricks at different pep rallies and football games.

"Well, I'm still here, doesn't that count as some kind of comfort zone?" Dahlia asked as they stopped on the other side of the gym, right behind an open volleyball net. Dahlia sat down and kicked her legs out into a V, stretching to the tips of her toes and staying there. "Why not volleyball? Or basketball?"

"Okay, well, for starters it's me we're talking about," Bella said as she copied Dahlia's movements. She was still flexible, Dahlia noted, something that comes in handy with cheering. "And I mean, cheering is still sports, but I feel like if I can be a base I wouldn't have to worry about much."

"Other than catching the flyer?" Dahlia asked and Bella's face paled. "It's not that scary, I prefer catching than flying – but Bella, you're tiny. You'll be a flyer and honestly it's not as terrible as you think it is." Dahlia moved to stretch her other leg, and Bella did the same. There seemed to be something on Bella's mind and Dahlia raised a brow. "What happened?"

"Nothing, it's stupid." Bella said.

"Clearly it's bothering you, so it's not stupid." Dahlia argued and Bella seemed to be fighting herself to open up to Dahlia about what was on her mind. "You know I won't say anything to anyone, or judge you for anything, Hell's Bells. What is it?"

"So...you're having problems with Jasper?" Bella asked and Dahlia nodded, wanting to groan. Other than when Alice stopped her at the locker room, Dahlia was hoping that she could avoid talking about the blonde haired pest that seemed to hate her for no reason. And despite Alice's words of comfort, Dahlia couldn't help but think that Alice may have just been trying to cover for Jasper's ass because he's a little prick.

"Yeah, he seems to hate me for no fucking reason. Alice said he isn't always like that, though." Dahlia said with a shrug. "I'll have to see, though. I don't exactly see Jasper opening up to me any time soon, or an apology for how he acted towards me today." Bella nodded, and Dahlia's mind wandered briefly to what could really be his problem before dispelling him from her mind. She wasn't going to be thinking about him any more.

"Well...maybe I need to talk to Alice about Edward?" Dahlia perked up at this. "We have Biology together and he was just...like I was such a pest to him." Dahlia could understand why Bella was feeling frustrated, but it unnerved Dahlia that Edward had a problem with Bella. Bella was harmless, she probably doesn't even know what Edward's problem is with her. Much like how Dahlia doesn't know what Jasper's problem is with herself. "I mean, as soon as the bell rang he just bolted for the door, like I was just annoying the life out of him."

"Well, Alice said that they were having a rather hard time adjusting to the move." Dahlia said. Bella seemed to be thinking on this piece of advice, but Dahlia knew that Bella would eventually build up the courage to confront him. Even though Bella seemed to be the last person to ever confront someone about what was bothering her – or possibly, even what she might have done to them, she likes to be liked. Even at Phoenix, where she complained about how everyone seemed to be picking on her she did have some friends that liked her because she's a people pleaser. "I know what you're thinking, Bella – btu if it was me I would just leave him alone. Give him a week to warm up to the place, and you, and then he'll probably be in a better mood to talk. I know I was after I moved here." Dahlia offered this piece of advice.

"Okay, but I'm going to try to talk to him tomorrow-"

"What did I just say?"

"We both know that I'm stubborn, D." Bella said with a lopsided smile. "Besides, it's not like he can hurt my feelings." Dahlia thinks that he already has, based on how she was reacting to the idea of talking to him the next day. Dahlia sighed, but knew that it was a lost cause, Bella was right – she was stubborn, but Dahlia only saw it ending of one way. Bella getting her heart broken.

"Okay ladies, we're going to head to the field and do some laps." Jessica said, the team got up and filed out of the gym. Dahlia failed to notice Alice's gaze lingering on the two best friends – unaware of what was about to come to the two of them.

After school had ended, the Cullens began retreating to the vehicles that they have arrived in. Jasper caught himself looking for the girl he shared English class with, as Edward seemed to have been looking for the other new girl – Bella. "Her name is Dahlia, by the way, Jasper." If Jasper heard his brother, he didn't indicate to this as his eyes kept scanning the crowd of students exiting the building. However, it did seem to have the effect that Edward wanted on Jasper. He seemed to have loosened his jaw slightly and his posture had changed as well. However, as Alice's head popped out of the gym and she wasn't followed by either girl, confusion seemed to cloud Jasper's eyes. "They have cheer practice." Alice elaborated.

Jasper was surprised that Dahlia would cheer, but at the same time it didn't surprise him. She appeared to be a social recluse. Only socializing when she had to, but cheering seemed to be too overly social for her as Jasper had a loose concept on cheering. The Cullens never really did any extracurricular activities due to the fact that they could easily over power their human counterparts. "They're going to be practicing on the field for the homecoming pep rally if you want to stop by, Jasper and Edward."

"I don't think that's smart." Rosalie retorted. "Not only did Jasper nearly bite into Dahlia's neck – but Edward nearly did the same thing to that Bella girl too. It would be wise for them both to go hunt for a while and not come back." Rosalie did have a point, all of their eyes were charcoal. And when they went on longer hunts, the results lasted longer than just a few days of hunting. Jasper had a rational part of his brain that agreed with what Rosalie said – but the hunter in him wanted to go watch Dahlia at the cheer practice. Watch her routine, how she interacted with her peers – how deeply would she be missed if she were to wound up dead?

But she has a name. She has a family and friends that do care about her, and would severely miss her if something were to happen to her. "Jasper, let's go." Edward said, gripping his upper arm and forcing him to get in to his Volvo. "We're going to the Denalis. We both need to clear our heads before we encounter either one of the girls again – you especially. If anything were to happen we would have to move again." Jasper growled at this, but sulked into the seat as Edward teared out of the parking lot.

"I don't understand." Jasper hissed through his teeth. "I was fine yesterday, why did it change?"

"Little is known, about human mates. I mean," Edward paused. "They're fragile, perishable. We'll have to be careful if we don't want to cause them physical and mental harm."

"What if I don't even want a mate?" Jasper argued. He was fine being by himself, he promised himself that once he got his thirst under control he was going to leave the Cullens. Edward knew of this, but never really seen Jasper as being the hermit type. He was tied to Alice just as much as his currently tied to Dahlia. However, Edward also knew that Jasper controlling his thirst would take longer than her originally thought. Unlike how Jasper believed it was something that could be learned – much like military drills – it wasn't. It took Edward forever before he could finally control his own thirst. Jasper? It would take twice as long.

"That's not necessarily up to us if we want to mate or not, it's kind of like imprinting." Edward explained. "It happens within a second, however most human mates are either turned right away or killed right away since most vampires can't control themselves around them." Jasper didn't seem to overly enjoy this information, and Edward knew that Jasper was going to eventually retaliate against his new rules that he was about to lay down in order for Jasper to abide by them. "Until we are sure that we can control our urges we need to go hunting for several days, that way it'll be easier around them."

"Fine." Jasper said with a bit of hostility. Edward sighed. "Then what? We're perfectly fine and we all live happily ever after?"

"It's not as simple as that."

"Maybe I should just leave." Jasper muttered. "You can control yourself around humans a lot easier than I can. It would be better if I just left so that way no one would get hurt."

"You can't just run from your problems all of the time, Jasper. It doesn't work like that." Edward argued. "But for a minute I'll humor you – let's say you do run away, Dahlia forgets you and moves on, meets a man has children and once she grows old she dies a peaceful death. Except, you meet another human and the same thing happens again because you didn't mate with Dahlia in the first place – so now you're mating with her great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great granddaughter. What would you do then?" When there was a pause, Edward decided to continue on with what he was saying. "I'll tell you – since you failed to control your thirst oh-so-many years ago, you'll rip into her neck without a second thought because her scent has grown stronger with ever generation that passes it down. Do you understand, Jasper? You have to go through with this – I would never want to turn them into a vampire but you can end the cycle by staying by her side until she dies."

"That's pointless, then, isn't it?" Jasper asked. "Why can't we just turn them once they want to be turned? The cycle still ends, they just live with us, forever."

"Did you forget the treaty? Even if we wanted to, we can't." Edward explained. For a split second, when Jasper was distracted by the idea of Dahlia dying Jasper had forgotten about the treaty. The idea of Dahlia dying didn't sit too well with Jasper, and he nearly had a gutteral growl escape his throat when Edward said that she would die from old age.

"We can find someone else to do it. Someone we trust – or we could lie and say that someone else did it."

"They wouldn't buy it – and besides who could we trust to turn the girls?"

"The Volturi?"

"That's the most naive thing I have ever heard you say – you're smarter than that Jasper." Edward said.

"I don't want her to die, Edward!" Jasper yelled, slamming his hand onto the dash on the Volvo, causing it to break under the pressure. Edward didn't flinch from this and continued driving, eyes forward as Jasper had his little tantrum. "For some reason the idea of her dying crushes me, and the fact that I might not be able to change that makes me feel powerless." Jasper said this with such a soft tone that it surprised Edward. He wasn't expecting Jasper to say this, in fact he was expecting Jasper to want to try to kill Dahlia as soon as possible. "I don't want to hurt her, I want to apologize to her for how I acted – because of what I am, I nearly hurt her in a sea of students today. I want to be able to restrain myself around her."

Edward took this information in, and he felt pride blossom throughout him. This was something that Carlisle and Esme had been working towards when they first took Jasper in. At first, Jasper didn't care if he still hunted humans or not – he came along because Alice practically dragged him to their house. However, it appeared now that Jasper has evolved from that way of thinking even if it is just for one human girl. Jasper's head went in between his heads and if Edward didn't know any better he would have thought that Jasper might have been crying as well. But, as Jasper sat there – wallowing in self pity and hate, Edward heard one thought repeating over and over again in his head. _I won't hurt her._

A few days had went by, Dahlia hadn't seen hide nor tail of the blonde Cullen since their first day at the school and frankly Dahlia couldn't have been happier. Bella, on the other hand was pissed that Edward was skipping since she wanted to confront him about what had happened when they first met. Dahlia was practically skipping into English with T.N.T by AC/DC blasting in her earphones. However when she looked back towards her desk it took everything in her body to not skip out of the door she had just walked in.

Jasper Cullen was back from the dead.

Dahlia decided that she would walk to the back and ignore him, much like she did on the first day. She turned down her music so she wouldn't be a nuisance to the people around her and pulled her bag up onto her desk, gathering her things when she heard him clear his throat. "I want to apologize." Dahlia's head snapped up at his words and her breath hitched in her throat. She couldn't remember his eyes – but she would have remembered that honey hazel color that she saw.

"I'm all ears." She replied, taking her earphones out and propping her chin in one hand – not backing down from his intense stare. Dahlia planned on ignoring him, but if he was willing to bury the hatchet then she would allow it – and go right back to ignoring him after she didn't forgive him.

"Last week, my family and I moved to Forks, I guess I wasn't ready for the move and I took it out on the person closest to me. I'm sorry that I took my anger out on you, ma'am." Dahlia flinched at the last word and how formal he sounded. It was as if he was trying to prove that he was a gentleman through and through. Normally Dahlia wouldn't care, but for some reason she hated the idea that she could potentially fall for this jerk. "If there's any way I can make it up to you, I'd be happy to help."

The idea of the ultimate torture came to Dahlia's mind, however, she also knew that if Jasper was like every other hormonal teenage boy he would probably get off on it too, "Actually there is." Dahlia was going to make a fool out of Jasper, so that he would never want anything to do with her again. "How about you be a spotter for the cheer team? We need the extra hands and it's pretty much if there's ever an accident you'll be the first one to call the ambulance." Jasper seemed to be holding something back and Dahlia knew that she had him in a tough spot.

"I suppose I could help...How bad has someone gotten injured before?"

"Well," Dahlia began to get a sinister idea. Maybe Jasper wasn't good with gore? "Kelsey was accidentally dropped once, and she broke her leg – no blood or anything but we did have to set it and she was screaming the entire time." Jasper seemed to have visibly relaxed at this and Dahlia's glare returned. "We have practice today after school, meet us in the gym. We'll be tumbling today so there shouldn't be any ambulance calls." Jasper nodded at this.

"I look forward to it." He gave a sly smile that made Dahlia want to scream, and she saw confusion flash through in his eyes for a split second before a neutral expression entered them. "How about choir? Did I miss anything in there?" He asked. Dahlia wanted to squint, but she refrained herself from doing so before tucking some hair behind her ear.

"Mrs. Greene was worried that you dropped out all together – she was scared she lost her main tenor. She's wanting to go to regionals, and we need a good first tenor." Dahlia explained that and it appeared that Jasper had been hanging on to every word. "You and your brother both was gone last week, did you catch a stomach bug or something?"

"Or something. Our dad, Carlisle, said it was something kind of like the flu." Jasper said with a shrug. "We're fine, otherwise unscathed – but it was an awful week with Edward and I both sick." Jasper laughed and Dahlia didn't have enough time to stop herself from joining in on his half-chuckle. "Our dad and mom both had a field day trying to get us back to feeling better – it was like I would have it for a few days and then he would get it for a few days. We passed it back and forth between each other, it was awful."

"I can imagine, that happened to me and Jess once when we were fourteen. We were out longer than a week though, I honestly felt like I was dying." Dahlia said with a slight smile. It was at this time that the teacher entered and all student chatter had died down. Dahlia didn't see how Jasper seemed to have formed a glare after she turned her attention away from him – however she didn't hear another peep out of him until the end of the class.


	3. Chapter 3

A few days had passed since Jasper started helping out with the cheer team – and the results that she had wanted weren't there. To say she was angry was an understatement, however in the time of trying to get Jasper to slip up she actually got to know the guy. For instance, he loves southern style cooking, he's a Civil War fanatic as she had saw his history paper and was convinced that he didn't look any of it up since he recited it for her – word for word. He also likes baseball, something that he and Dahlia had in common. However, where there was smooth waters in Dahlia thinking about forgiving Jasper for being a prick, Bella seemed to have trouble regarding Edward.

Dahlia was at Bella's house, the two were getting ready to go to La Push with Jess, Angela, Tyler, Eric and Mike. Dahlia was excited since Bella was talking about going and seeing Jake – who Dahlia had been in touch with for as long as she could remember. "Last time I was there, he introduced me to some of his friends – Embry and Quill." Dahlia said trying to get Bella's mind off of Edward. Edward had done a good job of playing mind games with Bella, and Dahlia wasn't too impressed. Apparently he would be friendly towards her one day, and within that same day turn around and be an ultimate prick to her. Dahlia would admit that sometimes Jasper would get like that too – in class mostly, but he always ended up apologizing. Bella said that Edward hadn't apologized yet, and would sometimes treat the whole thing as her fault. "We should just focus on La Push – we'll talk about Edward and Jasper when we get back."

"Okay." Bella said a bit glumly, and Dahlia knew that she would be thinking about it the whole way to La Push and the whole way back. "But...D, can I ask you something?"

"Is it Edward related?"

"Yes, but-"

"Bella, for one day let's not talk about Edward, please-"

"But you're hanging out with his brother," Bella pushed and this caused Dahlia to pause. Bella never pushed to talk about anything unless she thought that it was important. Dahlia slowed her steps down Bella's stairs and once they reached the kitchen she leaned against an arch. Charlie wasn't home – so Bella would probably start opening up right away. "And it made me think that if there is something wrong with Edward, that there is probably something wrong with Jasper." Bella pointed out. _You got a point. _Dahlia thought, she motioned her hand to allow Bella to continue with her dialogue. "You remember, the other day in the parking lot? Where Tyler's van skidded on the ice and hit my truck?"

"Kinda hard not to forget the day you almost died." Dahlia said with a tight smile. It was like it was yesterday, but Bella was safe. Edward was apparently talking to her, managed to knock her out of the way – or at least that's what Bella kept telling everyone. However, Dahlia saw the dent in the truck. It was small, circular – unlike the one closer to the tailgate where Bella had to get the taillights replaced. The one above her tire looked like a hand. Dahlia never said anything about it, wanting Bella to come forward – and Dahlia was hoping that she would provide some closure to Dahlia's imagination. Either Edward was a mutant, or was insanely strong – Dahlia wasn't sure. And the fact that Bella was scared that Jasper could be the same way kind of scared Dahlia.

"Edward didn't knock me out of the way...he stopped the van, with his hand." Bella said and Dahlia could see the gears turning in her head about what could have happened to allow Edward to do something like that. Dahlia understood that Adrenaline rushes can give temporary super human strength, but usually after the effects wear off you feel miserable. And if Edward did stop the van with his hand, he should have had it in a cast since it was most likely broken after that display. Dahlia noticed that his hand lacked a cast these past few days. "He claimed an adrenaline rush – but he would have broken or at least, fractured his hand, right? I don't understand but..." Dahlia could practically hear the words that Bella wanted to say but wouldn't – because of how ridiculous it sounded.

"Bella...I understand that Edward did something that isn't easily explained, and the idea of something...not human existing is, insane." Dahlia began. Dahlia sighed, and then paused before running a hand through her hair. "But if you think, that it's something to look in to, then I'll help you. Especially if it involves Jasper."

Dahlia would like to think that she didn't really care that much about Jasper – however as she grew to knew him, she had developed some sort of relationship with him. Once he found out that she liked banana nut muffins for breakfast he would bring her one that their mom made for them every morning. And Dahlia will attest that Esme Cullen can _cook_. Once he found out that she struggles with Spanish on the daily, he began offering her tutor sessions in their free time at the library. It was like Jasper was trying to make up for being a prick and Dahlia didn't originally want to forgive him, but she knew that she already had. "I want to know if I'm dealing with the next Clark Kent." Dahlia said and Bella chuckled at this before they clamored into Bella's truck and sped off towards Newton's Sporting Goods.

Once they got to La Push, Bella and Dahlia helped zip up the others that would be surfing. Dahlia wasn't that good at this particular sport, so she decided that she would sit out with Bella. And from the texts that Jacob was sending to her phone, Dahlia knew that he would be stopping by with some of his friends. "Dahlia! Bella!" Dahlia's head whipped up when she heard Jacob's voice and a smile made it's way across her face.

"Jake! Embry, Quill!" Dahlia greeted as she hugged each of the boys in turn. Bella gave a small wave and Jacob sat on the other side of Bella in Tyler's van before she offered him a piece of licorice. "It's nice to see you guys again." Dahlia said a bit giddily. Dahlia had a small crush on the Quilette named Embry, maybe it was the long hair or the fact that he had his ears pierced – but Dahlia was a sucker for bad boys to an extent. Jessica seemed to be watching from afar, eyeing up the three boys that joined them and Dahlia knew that she would be questioned on the way home about who it was that joined them suddenly.

"It's nice to see you too, D." Embry said as he sat on the other side of her, and Dahlia passed him some licorice. "Thanks." He said before biting in to it. Dahlia relished in the fact that he was sitting next to her and that he took the licorice from her – even it was just as friends. A girl could dream, right? Dahlia took a piece and began eating it as well as the others lapped into normal conversation.

"You guys should keep Bella and Dahlia company." Jessica said suddenly, "Their dates bailed." Dahlia paled when she said that and rolled her eyes. "Hey, I would have loved it if they would have come – but they didn't." Jess shrugged her shoulders and it took everything in Dahlia's body to not launch herself at her cousin and beat the crap out of her. This was something that was done to try to embarrass them, however, Dahlia was used to this whereas Bella wasn't and she was turned into a stuttering mess.

"Date? What date?" Eric said suddenly, panicked.

"They invited Edward and Jasper Cullen to come with us."

"Only to be polite – that's it." Bella said with a shrug. "Everyone treats them like they're different, and it bothers me. We both came to school the same day."

"Well they act like freaks." Mike said with a shrug.

"You got that right," Embry said under his breath that no one caught it except for Dahlia who gave him a questioning glance. Embry kept his gaze on the ground and once everyone had parted off, Quill decided to go off to some shop that was a little bit away to get some food and drinks for everyone since there was going to be a party back at his place that night.

"You know, you shouldn't talk bad about someone that isn't there to defend themselves." Dahlia said while handing Embry another piece. "I would hate to hear what you say about me when I'm not there." Embry's face flared up red and Dahlia chuckled before waving her hand. "I'm kidding. But I do want to know why you called the Cullens freaks." Dahlia said with as much innocence that she could muster. Embry seemed to be fighting with himself about what to say, however Embry knew that he would break under Dahlia's gaze.

"It's more like superstition than anything, just stupid stories passed down from generation to generation." Embry explained before tucking some hair behind his ear. "I really...shouldn't say anything..."

"Embry, if it's just superstition – then it's like a campfire story." Dahlia said with a smile before pulling her legs up into his lap. Embry shifted so that he was comfortable, and then put his hands on her shoes – Dahlia knew that given the chance he would tie her shoes together, however he seemed to be fighting some inner battle with himself. "Em, I'm not going to tell anyone. I promise." Embry's dark brown eyes connected with her green ones and he sighed.

"Do you realize how hard it is to tell you no?" Embry said with a laugh and Dahlia raised a brow. "Okay, so...um...Quileute's are supposedly descendants from wolves. Or at least that's the legend behind it." Embry began and there was still some hesitance, his gaze had turn to the dark waters of La Push beach – the waves crashing onto the shore one after the other. Dahlia knew that this was the prime time to be surfing but she needed to keep Embry on track.

"Wolves? Cool. I think I'm a descendant of an old Irish clan." Dahlia said and Embry cracked a smile that seemed to make him ease up a bit. Which is what Dahlia was going for. "So, you're tribe is wolves...where does the Cullens come into play with this? Are they like, descendants of a clan similar to yours?" Dahlia asked and Embry sighed, running a hand through his hair. Something that he does whenever he gets stressed or when he doesn't want to talk about something. _I'm sorry, Embry._ Dahlia thought. _I'll make it up to you by a movie night and dinner – I promise._ Is what Dahlia wanted to say, but couldn't since she needed more information from the Quileute boy.

"According to elders, they're from a clan that's like an enemy to ours..." Embry seemed to have been getting deja vu about something. Dahlia reached out and put her hand on his, having to sit up since his hand was still on her shoes. This seemed to snap Embry out of the reverie that he was in, he shook his head and opened his mouth so that he would continue on with what he was saying. "Jake's great grandfather – who was the chief at the time – found them hunting on our land. However, they claimed to be something different and he made a peace treaty with them. They wouldn't stay on our lands and we wouldn't expose what they really are to the pale faces." Embry said with a shrug.

"Wait, the Cullens just moved here – like two weeks ago just moved here." Dahlia said confused as her hand gripped Embry's a bit harder as he said that. Embry smirked and his eyebrow quirked at her movements, her face heated up and she pulled her hand away – crossing her arms as she leaned back in the van.

"Or," Embry turned his attention back to the waves. "They moved back." Dahlia nodded and she looked at her hands – wondering what the legend could mean.

"So...what do your people call them?"

"It's just a story, D."

"Em, please." Dahlia begged and Embry blew out a raspberry between his teeth. Dahlia looked up through her lashes and Embry ran his hand through his hair once again.

"We call them the cold ones." Dahlia gave a soft smile.

"Well, you were right – it sounds like it's just a story." Dahlia said with a slight chuckle and Embry seemed to relax at this. _He seems to believe it to some extent._ Dahlia thought before moving her feet off of him, "Thanks for telling me Em, I won't tell another soul – I promise." Dahlia said offering her pinkie out to him.

"And I promise, once you untie your shoes that I will never do it again." Embry said linking his pinkie with her own before taking off towards the beach. Dahlia looked at her shoes, noticing how they were tied together and cursed at herself.

"Embry!"

Dahlia had went back to Bella's house, Jess being too tired and wanting to hang out with Mike to tag along with them. Dahlia and Bella had been talking about what the Quileute boys had told them in turn. Dahlia and Bella's stories were practically the same, expect Embry gave Dahlia a name to what the two could possibly be. "The cold ones?" Bella whispered. "That makes no sense, maybe we can find something on Google about Quileute legends or something." Dahlia nodded and helped Bella unload her truck, both of the girls scrambling up the stairs to Bella's room. Dahlia noticed that Charlie's cruiser wasn't back and figured that he must have been helping with the animal attacks that have been going on.

The thought of the animal attacks made Dahlia shiver, Dahlia loves animals but she wasn't a fool to how dangerous and murderous they were. She knew that Forks PD had been recruited in sniffing out the animal that seemed to have been attacking people from Seattle to Port Angeles, they were getting closer and closer to Forks and it made Dahlia unnerved to a degree. Dahlia shook her head, and sprawled out on Bella's bed once they got upstairs. Dahlia began scanning on her phone while Bella worked at her monitor on finding any information about the term "cold ones" in Quileute legends. Dahlia was about to give up hope when Bella perked up. "I found something! A book, at a store called Thunderbird and Whale Bookstore. The book has all of the legends, but they're probably twisted to not reveal as much as the Quileute's know."

"It's in Port Angeles?" Dahlia wanted to make it sound like a statement, but it was more of a question. There was a part of her that thought that it might have been on the rez, partly because she wanted to see Embry again. She let out a sigh and then sat back down on the bed. "Should we go next weekend? So that way we can make sure that the beast that is your truck will make it there and back." Dahlia said with a smirk.

"Don't hate the truck." Bella said with a laugh.

"I'm not, it's just a beast." Dahlia said laughing back. "I think I should get home since you have your deducing skills helping you out for now. I'm going to head to study and then head to bed I think." Dahlia said. Bella nodded, and waved her off as Dahlia began the trek back to her house. Her mind was swirling with the possibility of Jasper being something other than human – it was laughable. But why did Dahlia believe it? There was no proof that it was possible – it shouldn't exist. But that _look_ on Embry's face was forever burned into her memory. He believed it, and from what Bella said – Jacob believed it too. So what should Dahlia do?

"Dahlia?" Dahlia snapped up, seeing Jasper in front of her. He had his familiar smirk on his face, and Dahlia hated that she felt a sense of ease wash over her. She was completely comfortable in his presence, and it bothered her slightly. Like she shouldn't be comfortable – the past few hours came slamming back to her mind and she felt some chaos brimming under the facade that seemed to have presented itself to her. "Are you alright? You seemed so deep in thought, that you didn't seem to notice you were about to slam into a pole."

Dahlia looked, seeing the streetlight that loomed over her like a beacon. The light was a dull yellow-orange and Dahlia's mouth opened into a slight O. "Yeah, you know – I was wanting to see if you were going to stop me." Dahlia said with a shrug.

"So you noticed me?"

_Honestly, no._ Dahlia was pretty aware of her surroundings, but she knew for a fact that Jasper was no where near her the last time she checked. Again, the animal attacks. "Yeah, totally." Dahlia lied. "What brings you out to these neck of the woods? I thought you lived on the edge of town." Dahlia said as she walked up next to him, he changed course and began walking beside her.

"I was running a few errands, Esme wanted me to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things." Jasper made a motion to the cloth bag that he had in his left hand. "More ingredients for her banana nut muffins."

"Okay, you seriously have to tell her to give me her recipe – it's amazing." Dahlia said and she noticed how Jasper seemed pleased by this. "Unless, of course – she isn't making them, and you are." Jasper seemed to have hiccuped in his next line, and Dahlia knew she had caught him.

"No, she makes them."

"Liar!" Dahlia said with a chuckle.

"Well, she made the first batch. I copied the recipe and I made the other few ten." Jasper said a bit awkwardly. Did Jasper not like showing his feelings? Dahlia gave him a smile before touching his shoulder. He seemed to have frozen when she done this, but she didn't notice – at least not right away.

"Jazz," Dahlia said, "you're cooking, and Esme's, is seriously the bomb. Cooking isn't something to be ashamed of – it's a necessity of every living thing to try to create food." Once Dahlia had realized that she had given Jasper a nickname, she felt her cheeks flush. Jasper seemed to have noticed it too, but didn't say anything. "Sorry, I didn't mean – the name just slipped-"

"It's fine." Jasper said with a shrug. "I haven't been given a nickname in forever, it's refreshing." Dahlia relaxed at this before tucking some of her hair behind her ear. She looked off to the side, trying to distract her mind from the Cullen at her side. "My brother said that Bella invited him to La Push, did you go too?"

"Yeah, I have some friends on the reservation. Embry Call, we've been friends since we were thirteen. He's sweet, and Jake is like an older brother to me." Dahlia listed the people that she knew on the rez, and with every name Jasper seemed to be getting more and more agitated that she knew them. "A lot of us that went, went surfing. I didn't go since I'm completely atrocious with the sport, so I sat out with Bella and the others. Em told me an old legend about how the Quileute's are descendants from wolves. Weird, right?" Dahlia noticed how Jasper seemed to visibly relax once she had said this. Confusion clouded her brain, but she didn't allow the emotion to be present on her face. _We call them the cold ones._

This sentence rang out throughout her mind and she wondered if she should question Jasper about it, but she knew that if she said anything about it that it would probably be a bad decision. Instead she kept it to herself, and when Jasper began talking she tried to focus on him. "It sounds like a superstitious story." Jasper said with a dry laugh. "Maybe you should seek better company whenever you don't want to go surfing, Doll." Dahlia's face heated up from the nickname and she tried to hide her face but from the smirk she saw last second, she knew that Jasper had seen it.

"Well, it's just stories. It's not going to hurt anyone." Dahlia said with a shrug. "Besides, I like stories like that – I mean, could you imagine if something other than humans existed? It would be fascinating." Again, his body language was difficult to read but she knew that the subject was making him uncomfortable. Dahlia had books in her arms that she had grabbed from her bag when she left Bella's house – she knew that she would have to test a theory when the time is right. _We call them the cold ones._ The second time that it rang within her head, she looked at her house – a two story Tudor home that looked dreary against the Forks, wet backdrop. "Are you going to be at school tomorrow?" Dahlia asked.

"Um...actually, no. My parents like to take us out whenever it's nice – it's supposed to be sunny tomorrow, so we're going hiking." Jasper said before he tucked some of his hair behind his ear. Dahlia nodded. "Maybe one day, I can convince Carlisle to let you tag along." Dahlia smiled at this, and allowed some hair to fall in front of her face. She looked at the ground, not seeing Jasper's face – she was going to have to trip herself, the thought of scrapping her knees and messing up her favorite pair of jeans just to get Jasper to touch her kind of pissed her off. "Don't look so upset, Doll. I'll be back on Monday." Jasper said, and then the unthinkable happened.

Jasper tucked Dahlia's hair behind her ear, and briefly his finger scraped by her skin and Dahlia's eyes widen. But when she looked up at Jasper, she tried to remain composed – Jasper on the other hand looked like he just committed treason. His touch, was painstakingly cold. It made Dahlia shiver since it felt like it reached all the way down to her core. _Cold ones._ Dahlia could see that Jasper was planning on running away, but Dahlia had to stop him – act like it didn't bother her.

"How about we hang out on Saturday?" Dahlia asked and this surprised Jasper, who had yet to remove his hand from the side of her head. "If you give me your phone number, I can let you know when I'm available. We can hang out at your house, or at mine – I still need some help with Spanish, and I need a good tutor." Jasper smiled and his thumb padded against the side of her cheek bone again and she fought the urge to take in a sharp breath, and a smile made its way to her face.

"Sure, here – let me see your phone." Jasper said and Dahlia handed it to him. She watched as he carefully punched in his number into her phone and handed it back. "Now, give me yours." He said, offering his own phone to her. She punched in her own number and handed it back, noticing how he seemed to be careful of letting their hands touch. "I'll text you when I get home." He said with his half-smile that he managed to make Dahlia feel at ease.

"Okay, be careful, Jazz!" Dahlia called as she went inside her house. Once she closed the door, Dahlia made her way up the stairs to her room, putting her bag on her bed and looking at her laptop that sat on her desk. She bit the inside of her lip – she wanted to do some research herself, despite Bella just did some back at her own house, however with what happened between her and Jasper just now the story that Embry told her kept replaying over and over in her mind. Against her better judgment, Dahlia sat down at her desk and booted up the small laptop. After entering her password, she launched Google Chrome and typed in two words. _Cold ones._

What Dahlia had found, wasn't what she was expecting to find. She slammed the laptop shut and pulled her legs up to her chest as her desk chair swiveled to face her bed. Immortal, never eating, pale, cold to the touch – all of these things were describing one monster in mythology that's been talked about for centuries. _Vampires._ Jasper never ate at lunch when he sat with his siblings, he was pale and cold to the touch. But immortal? That seemed laughable. _Jake's great-grandfather made a peace treaty with them_. Embry's voice reverberated around in her skull and she buried her face into her knees. There was no way that this could be happening, right? It was all foreign. Maybe Jasper has an allergy or is on a diet, maybe he doesn't get enough sun bathing in his summer routines and maybe his hands were cold because of the ridiculous climate that is Forks, Washington.

_You're lying to yourself._ Dahlia's eyes squeezed shut, she couldn't be sure, and she didn't want to accuse him – making him think that she was crazy. She needed stonewall proof, and she knew that it would be hard to do that. _Unless_. Dahlia shook her head, no, no, no. She couldn't do that unless she was ready to die, and frankly she still wanted to see a little bit of the world before she hit the dirt. It was at this time that her phone went off from a text from Jasper.

_Just got home, safe. _Dahlia felt her stomach drop and her heart get heavy when she read the text – two opposite effects that this should have on her. Jasper kept his word, texting her when he got home but at the same time she wish that he hadn't.

_That's good, be sure to be safe on your hiking trip tomorrow!_ Dahlia sent back and she waited for a response, when she didn't get one she threw her phone to her bed before deciding that it was time that she took a shower and got ready for bed. Dahlia knew that if Jasper and his family weren't going to be at school tomorrow, she would probably be working her ass off at workouts, trying to keep him out of her mind so that she could come to some kind of rational thinking done about what was actually happening around the Cullens.

Or at least, she thought that she would.


	4. Chapter 4

Dahlia had a sense of disappointment when Jasper was true to his word, it was sunny, warm and uncomfortably humid. Dahlia had pulled her hair away from her face while her cousin was sitting on the table outside in the courtyard, getting a sun tan. Bella walked up to Dahlia, and Dahlia nodded in greeting at the brunette which caused Bella to raise her eyebrow. Dahlia just shook her head, and when Bella began looking around, Dahlia knew that she was looking for Edward. "They're not here." Dahlia said, making Jessica look over at her cousin. "Jasper stopped by last night and told me that their parents take them out for hiking on sunny days."

"Oh," Bella said before tucking her hair back behind her ear. Dahlia looked at Jess, who had an eyebrow raised but a smirk on her face. Jessica was going to say that Dahlia and Jasper were a thing, when that wasn't even true. "They're lucky that get to play hooky, I guess." Bella said, at this moment was when Angela came bounding up to their table and slapped her bag on to the surface. Her smile was infectious and Dahlia's bad mood practically lifted.

"I asked Eric to prom, he said yes!" Angela said happily and Dahlia gave her a hug. "Now, we just need to get D to ask Jasper to go." Dahlia rolled her eyes and the image of the blonde Junior flashed in her mind, her smile faltered a bit. Angela noticed this, and Dahlia just shrugged. "Well...I think Tyler still needs a date-" This caught Jessica's attention. "-I think he's going to ask you, he's really sweet." Angela said.

"Thanks, Angie." Dahlia said with a broken smile, "I guess you two need to go dress shopping, Jess told me that Mike asked her." Jessica nodded, and resumed her sun bathing. Talk of prom and dresses were easy distractions for the head cheerleader, no doubt she was already planning their wedding in her head. Dahlia saw how Mike looked at both Jess and Bella, she figured that Mike liked Bella more than Jess since Bella told her that Mike originally asked her. Bella pushed Mike to ask Jess, mostly because she didn't want to go, but also because she knew that Jess wanted Mike to ask him.

"We should go to Port Angeles, get the best dresses before they get cleaned out." Jessica said and Dahlia could see that Bella perked up at this. "Dahlia, you should come try them on too – just in case if Jasper or Tyler asks you out." Jessica seemed to have a plan formulating, Jessica was the type of girl that wanted her friends to have a boyfriend whenever she had one. And if she didn't have one, she would do whatever was possible to dismantle it so that they could be at her beck and call again. Frankly, it was infuriating.

"Okay, Bella, you want to come?" Dahlia asked.

"Of course she's coming too," Angela said happily before Bella could answer. "We need her opinion!" Dahlia wanted to laugh at what Angela said. Bella couldn't care less about prom dresses, or what the other girls got to wear. Dahlia was using it as cover so that Bella could go to the bookstore and try to piece together what Dahlia already knew, or well, what she thought she knew. _Bing!_ Dahlia looked at her phone, seeing a text from Bella.

_You okay?_

"Yeah, totally." Bella said. "I also have a store that I heard about and want to check out when we get done."

_I found something, but I'm not sure if I believe it._ Dahlia sent back. Jessica nodded and gather her stuff before Angela followed suit. Bella and Dahlia lingered, telling them that Dahlia's wallet was missing from her bag. They began walking to Dahlia's car, knowing that it would buy them some time since Jessica would want to drive her own car to Port Angeles. "Honest to God, I don't want to believe it, Hells Bells." Dahlia said when she opened the door to her beat up cavalier. Bella raised her eyebrow. "Embry told me that they call the Cullens the 'cold ones'. I didn't think anything about it until Jasper brushed some of my hair back and touched my cheek."

"Okay?"

"Bella, his touch was ice cold – it felt like I was touching a dead person, Bella." Dahlia whispered the last part and Bella's eyes widen. "It sounds stupid. But, then I looked up the term once I got inside and I found some...similarities between the Cullens and...v...vampires." Dahlia's voice was practically nonexistent when she said the last word and she could see the shock on Bella's face. "I need you to go to that bookstore and prove me wrong, please, Bella."

"Why?" Bella asked. "Why do you want to be wrong?" She asked. Honestly, the reason why Dahlia wanted to be wrong was due to the fact that she knew it was impossible for vampires to exist. Another reason? Dahlia was afraid, to be entirely honest. In the weeks leading up to this, potential, revelation, Dahlia could see that Jasper was a sweet, southern guy who was very mysterious but wasn't a bad boy type. Dahlia bit the inside of her lip, and she could feel her cheeks heating up. She may have developed a crush on Jasper, but if he was a vampire it was practically impossible for them to be together – wasn't it?

"I just...I don't know." Dahlia said, frustrated because she couldn't but words to the emotions. "Maybe, I like him? I don't know...I just, I don't want this to be difficult – if it could be." Dahlia explained and Bella nodded.

"I'll try my best, to disprove your theory, D." Bella nodded. At that moment Jessica rolled by, and honked her horn .The two girls piled into her car and with the talk of the various dresses that the two girls in the front seats wanted, they were off in the direction of Port Angeles. A shiny Volvo joined the journey a few minutes after they had left the school parking lot, unseen by the four teenage girls.

Once they got to the dress shop, Dahlia was at the mercy of Jessica and Angela as she practically became their dress up doll for the dresses that they picked out for her. Mostly strapless, figure hugging dresses that Dahlia never would have worn for herself. The most recent one was a baby blue colored with a mermaid tail and plunging neckline that showed off her boobs. Something that Jessica might have worn if she wasn't dead set on the pink one that had a longer neckline than the one that Dahlia had on. Her hair was pulled away from her face, and Bella was helping her look at jewelry.

"I know you don't want to be here," Dahlia said as she saw Jessica and Angela looking in the mirror on the other end of the shop. "You can leave and I can make up an excuse." Dahlia said with a shrug. Bella shook her head.

"I'm actually thinking about buying a dress." Bella said with a shrug. Dahlia had noticed how her eyes kept going to this dark purple one that stopped just below her knees and the neckline wasn't too revealing. Something that Dahlia could see Bella wearing at prom, if she was going.

"Did someone ask you to go?" Dahlia asked, holding up some dangly diamond earrings to the side of her head. "Did Edward ask?"

"No, no one – not even Edward has asked me to go to prom." Bella said a bit gloomily, and Dahlia gave her a weak smile. Dahlia knew that despite the persona that Bella was portraying in not caring about Edward, or anyone asking her to the prom for that matter, she actually did like it when Mike asked her before Jessica. Dahlia also knew that Bella would be over the moon if Edward asked her to accompany him to prom. Dahlia was also holding out that Jasper might ask her, but she knew that it was probably unlikely. Would Dahlia even say yes? The possibility of him being a vampire in her mind and a shiver went down her spine. "Oh you should try this one on." Bella said, handing Dahlia a black dress that she didn't see.

"Okay, be right back." Dahlia said before disappearing into the dressing room – feeling Jessica's eyes on her. Dahlia looked at the dress once she had it on – it was a black dress with little fake diamond jewels going up the bodice, it was shorter in the front stopping just above her knees but the tail of the dress was longer and extended a few inches onto the floor. Dahlia turned and that was when she heard Jessica knock on the door.

"Dahlia! I want to see your dress!" Dahlia opened the door and the look on Jessica's face was not the one that she was expecting. Jessica seemed stunned, and the way a smile broke out on her face Dahlia knew that Jessica would be buying this dress for her, regardless of the price. "Angela! Bella! Come look at Dahlia!" Dahlia could hear the two girls making their way to her, and when they rounded the corner they had the same look in their eye that Jessica did. Dahlia was guided to a mirror and she realized why – the dress accented her curves and hid the unflattering belly fat that she fought to keep away. The earring that Dahlia had been looking at where being held up by Jessica and Angela had grabbed a sparkly choker that reflected the light off of the chandelier and Dahlia couldn't contain her excitement.

"This is the one." Dahlia said a bit breathlessly and Jessica nodded, at that time there was a knock on the window, some guys began catcalling at the girls and Dahlia rolled her eyes. Bella seemed to be uncomfortable, and Dahlia nodded, giving her the signal that she could go now. "I swear, some guys are just fucking disgusting." Jessica mumbled something under her breath about the retreating figures that Dahlia honestly didn't want to repeat. Instead, she chose to ignore it and when Bella cleared her throat that was when Jessica's attention was changed towards her.

"Um, I think I'm going to go to this bookstore, they have a book that I've been meaning to read." Bella said as she gathered her stuff. Jessica looked upset but nodded.

"Are you going to meet us back at the restaurant?" Jessica asked. Bella nodded before dipping out and Jessica turned her attention to Dahlia. "D, is there anything going on between Bella and Edward?" And so the interrogation begins, Dahlia knew that as soon as Bella left, Jessica would immediately start talking about her. It amazed Dahlia that people put up with Jessica's shit, but she also knew that no one really wanted to go against her since she could easily blackmail them at the slightest. Dahlia sighed and scratched the back of her head, not sure how she should answer Jessica's question. In all honesty, Dahlia wasn't sure if there was anything going on between them.

"Probably not what you were thinking, from what Bella has told me, Edward seems to be...bipolar. Like one day he's open and will be willing to have conversation, but the next he's telling her how they shouldn't be friends." Dahlia sighed and Jessica nodded. Whatever Jessica wanted to hear, she didn't get it since her expression seemed to have glazed over and her attention was grabbed by some pumps that matched the pink dress that she was wearing. Dahlia turned her attention to her phone, when it went off. _Hey, I'm in Port Angeles. I think I saw your cousins car at a store, I was wondering if you were with her? _A text from Jasper was enough to make Dahlia's heart beat out of her chest, she swallowed a lump that was forming in her throat and managed to send a reply.

_Yes, I'm with Jess. Angela is with us too, Bella just left to go look for a book. We're trying on prom dresses, and I think that I found one that I like finally._ Dahlia sent back. She didn't expect a reply to come back from him and a part of her wanted him to stop messaging her so she could get her thoughts together. When her phone dinged again, her hopes were smashed and she nearly just ignored it.

_Did someone ask you to prom?_

Dahlia bit the inside of her cheek and sent a message, _No. But if I had to guess, Jess probably has someone lined up for me just in case._

There was a long pause between the next message, but Dahlia knew that he would eventually send one since he seemed to be in a decent mood. _Are you still at that shop?_ Dahlia was about to send no, mostly because Jessica would have wanted her to, but Dahlia was feeling...rebellious.

_Yes._

_Want me to come pick you up? I'm hungry._ Dahlia panicked when she saw the last part, but called out to Jessica and Angela. "Hey, Jasper is coming to pick me up – he's wanting to go eat somewhere." Jessica nodded, waving her hand and Dahlia knew that she had lost her to the worlds of shopping and fashion, much less prom. Dahlia dipped into the dressing room and quickly changed back into her baggy sweater, and ripped jeans. She pulled her hair back, two strands of hair on either side of her face. By the time she got to the cash register to pay for her dress, which she found out was on clearance for fifty dollars, Jasper was suddenly in the store – a smile on his face. "Jazz...hey." Dahlia said as the cashier seemed to be shocked from Jasper's appearance.

Jasper had his hair brushed back, he was wearing a button up under a brown leather jacket and boot-leg blue jeans that were tucked into some brown work boots. His smile was crooked, like always and Dahlia hated how elated she was to see him. There seemed to be surprise in his eyes, and Dahlia realized that she felt relieved that she was able to see him today, after all. "Hey, Doll." He said and Dahlia grabbed the garment bag, allowing Jasper to put a hand on the middle of her back and escort her out. "Sorry to just suddenly appear, but I wanted to see you." Dahlia felt something stir within her stomach when he said that and she just gave him a shy smile.

"It's fine, I was actually needing to talk to you about something." Dahlia said and Jasper raised a brow. He opened the door to his Corvette for her before sliding in to the driver side. "It's stupid, but I wanted to talk to you – I guess, to disprove a theory." Dahlia said before looking forward, trying not to make eye contact with Jasper. Dahlia had noticed that whenever Jasper came around, she always became less nervous and was prone to open up to him. She also noticed that there seemed to be a wave of confidence that radiated off of him and onto her. Dahlia couldn't understand how she could feel all of these emotions just from seeing him, or being in the same room with him.

"Okay, I think I can help you with some." Jasper said.

Dahlia opened her mouth and then closed, debating on how to phrase the next few words that were going to come out of her mouth. If she was right, she didn't want to do something and then get Jasper mad at her and potentially hurt her. She couldn't see Jasper killing her, but if Jasper was a vampire, then there was no telling what he would do to keep that a secret. "Okay, if you want to disprove some, then I guess I could spitball more than one." Jasper gave a crooked smile at this and Dahlia returned it. "Hypothetically, let's say that someone meets someone," Jasper seemed to still be listening to her and so she took a deep breath and looked out the window. "And let's say person A started out to hate person B, but person B started being a decent person and A started liking B. Should A see if B feels the same, or not?"

Jasper gave a smirk by the time she finished her story, and Jasper began to speak. "Well, if person A is smart, maybe they would pick up on subtle hints that B may have been giving. Who knows, maybe B has been wondering the same thing about A." Jasper said and Dahlia felt her stomach drop when he finished and she had to turn her face to face the window so that he couldn't see her face. "Maybe you should tell person A to try to ask B how they feel, Doll." There was a pregnant silence and Dahlia's attention was to the passing lights as they entered the center of Port Angeles, Jasper cut up a street and she could see various restaurants lining the street. "What were your other theories?" Fear creeped up on Dahlia and when she turned to look at Jasper, a sense of calm washed over her.

"You're some kind of witch, I swear." Dahlia said and when Jasper burst out laughing, Dahlia couldn't help but laughing herself.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, for instance – whenever I'm around you, if I'm feeling anxious I swear you pop out of no where and it calms me down, which is weird." Dahlia said with a smile. Jasper went silent, nearly rigid when Dahlia said this, Dahlia knew she probably said something she wasn't supposed to – but from the way Jasper was reacting, it was like she committed murder. Jasper pulled into a parking spot, and the thought of him killing her entered her mind for a brief second, but his smile returned and his attitude seemed to have changed from the stoic one he just gave off, it was warm and energetic once again.

"I'm an empath, basically," Jasper said, and from how he said it, it was like a big weight was lifted off of his shoulders. "I can feel emotions, and alter them – most of the time, people feel emotions differently, but you..." He paused for a second, and Dahlia raised a brow – confusion sweeping across her face as Jasper shook his head. "Your emotions are strong, they leak out – and it's hard not to miss you whenever you're in school, you're like a magnet." Dahlia felt her cheeks flush and she looked off to the side, "Nothing to be embarrassed about, Doll. It's a good different."

"So...have you ever, messed with my emotions?" Dahlia asked. Dahlia was briefly wondering if he managed to make her begin to have romantic feelings for him, or if it was her. Jasper smirked, almost as if he knew what she was thinking. "Jazz!"

"Only whenever you're anxious or scared, I calm you down just to give you enough time to gather your thoughts and to think rationally." Jasper said, and Dahlia nodded – but she still felt standoffish about that. "For your other feelings, however, I haven't done anything to influence how you feel about me, other than that calming feeling you get." Jasper said with a wink and Dahlia's face went bright red.

"I hate you." Dahlia said with a scowl, crossing her arms and Jasper laughed at this. Dahlia smiled though, there was a sense of relief knowing that her own emotions – regarding the romantic ones – were totally hers and not influenced by Jasper. "You wouldn't lie to me...right?"

"Of course not, it would break my heart to lie to you, darlin'." Dahlia wanted to punch him for saying the pet name but refrained from doing so. "Any more theories?"

"No, none for now." Dahlia said with a smile, "I think I'm just hungry." Jasper laughed at this before exiting the driver side, and when Dahlia went to open the door – he had already opened it for her. They made their way into a mom and pop diner, _Shelly's Diner_, was spelled out in neon lights on the roof of the building. It overlooked the street and seemed inviting and warm to Dahlia. "So, I thought you were going hiking with your family today – what brought you to Port Angeles?" Dahlia asked as they entered the diner, Jasper seemed conflicted to answer this, which seemed like such an easy question.

"I was shopping with my brother and sister, they had some other errands to attend to so they drove separately." Jasper explained and Dahlia nodded. They were seated in a booth in the back of the diner, and when it was obvious that Dahlia wanted more information – Jasper let up. "I was actually shopping for prom as well, my sister, Alice, seems to have decided that all of us are going." Dahlia nodded and gave a soft smile.

"So, how many girls have asked you to prom?" Dahlia asked and Jasper seemed surprised by this, but honestly if Jasper said none Dahlia would think that he's lying. Jasper's a good looking guy, and Dahlia knew tons of girls that would jump at asking him to prom if they thought that they could go with him. Jasper's lips curled into a crooked smile and if he was embarrassed, he didn't show it to Dahlia.

"Honestly, I think five." Jasper said and Dahlia felt a pang of jealousy. Jasper chuckled at this and Dahlia glared. "However, the girl I want to go with hasn't ask me – and I'm too scared to ask her, in all honesty. I think she'll say no." It was Dahlia's turn to scoff and Jasper seemed confused.

"Have you looked in a mirror recently, Jazz? You and all of your family are stunning. I'm surprised only five girls asked you to prom." Dahlia said and Jasper seemed to show some signs of becoming flustered at this statement. Dahlia smirked at this and her eyes scanned the menu that was in front of her before deciding on a hamburger and some curly fries. "As for the girl, don't wait for her to ask, just ask her yourself – and I mean, her saying no is the worst thing that could happen. But, I don't think that any sane person would say no."

Jasper sat in silence at this and when the waitress came up to their table, Dahlia told her that she wanted a coke, Jasper getting a coke as well before she went to the back to get their drink order. It was at this time that Jasper brought his hands to under his chin, "I also have some theories, Doll, that I want to indulge you in." Dahlia raised a brow at this but gave a slight nod. "I also feel a slight pull to you, I was wondering if you were a siren." Dahlia laughed at this and shook her head.

"Sirens sound beautiful, as you can see I am not." Dahlia said with another giggle.

"I think you're beautiful."

Silence was all that fell between them as Dahlia felt her cheeks heat up, that was something that she hadn't been expecting. She imagined that Jasper was the subtle type, she also thought that she knew she had him pegged for what kind of guy he is. Sweet, charismatic, southern and a gentleman. Dahlia didn't think that he would be brazen enough to say something like that to Dahlia. Jasper seemed to be smirking at her facial expression and she glared, flicking a piece of ice at him when she realized that the waitress had brought them their drinks. The waitress seemed surprised at this, but a smile ghosted on her lips. After taking Dahlia's order, because Jasper didn't want anything, she departed once again.

"Keep talking like that and I'll think that you're flirting with me, Cullen." Dahlia said. Jasper's eyes widen at the use of his last name but chuckled nevertheless.

"And if I am?"

"I would want to know why." Dahlia said. "I mean, I'm not particularly the prettiest girl in school, or the most popular. I'm a decent singer with a dying passion of cheering, I'm not that outgoing and frankly, Jess scares half of the male population – much less anyone that looks my way." Jasper took this information in, Dahlia could see the wheels turning in his head as he seemed to be assessing the situation.

"Well, I think you're beautiful, and you care about people. I remember when Penelope fell off of the pyramid and you were the first one there to make sure that she was okay – when I was supposed to be the one to take care of any injuries." Jasper said and Dahlia smiled. "You're kind, Doll, which goes a long way in the world, you're one of the most kind people I've ever met – aside from my mother. And you work so hard for whatever you want, your grades, your friends, beliefs, I see that and I admire you for that." Dahlia felt her cheeks heating up again and she looked off to the side, not really knowing how to respond. "As for Jess, she doesn't scare me." Dahlia might as well have been sold then and there, but she knew that it wouldn't turn up all roses.

"Okay..." Dahlia let out a sigh and she turned her attention back to Jasper who seemed confused. "Let's say that I like the fact that you like me for other than my looks and body," an emotion fleeted in Jasper's eyes that was too quick for Dahlia to see. "You should also know that I like honesty in relationships, and if you're lying to me about not being scared of Jess we're going to have problems." Dahlia said and Jasper laughed at the last part, causing a small smile to appear on Dahlia's face. _You can't lie to me if I confront you about being a vampire. _After a couple seconds have passed of them joking about Jess, Dahlia finally felt the nerves leave her body and she smiled. "Will you go to prom with me, Jazz?"

Jasper smiled, as if that was what he had been waiting for all night. "It would be my pleasure, Doll."


	5. Chapter 5

Dahlia had been laying in her bed the majority of the day, looking at her ceiling as she tried to gather her thoughts. Last night, the night that she had the date with Jasper and they both confessed, was a Friday night and Jessica hadn't bothered to ask her to come over. Yet. She sighed, rolling on her side when her phone began to ring. _Hold that thought_. She thought bitterly as she looked at her cell, surprised to see Bella calling her. "Hey Bells, what's up?" Dahlia asked as she sat up.

"Can I actually come over? I need to talk to you about something," Bella's voice was hurried and Dahlia could hear her running around her house – presumably throwing on a coat to fight off the rain that was pelting on Dahlia's window. "D?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry I was thinking." She paused, was this about Jasper and the other Cullens? She took in a shaky breath, "Is this about-"

"I'll tell you when I get there, I'll be there in a few," Bella said hurriedly before hanging up. Dahlia stood up, putting on some shorts and running a hand through her hair. It would take Bella ten minutes to get here, and while she was waiting she might as well make some tea for the girl to warm her up. Dahlia knew that Bella hated the cold. She walked downstairs, her mom being gone to work so she had the house to herself for the day. Once downstairs, she fell into a quiet routine. She still couldn't think about Jasper being a vampire. What would that mean? What would happen to them? And not just her and Jasper – but Bella and the rest of the Cullens? Would they disappear? Would they kill them?

She swallowed a lump that formed in her throat, she didn't think that Jasper would – but honestly she couldn't be sure. She sighed again, and it was at this moment that there was a knock at her door. She was surprised, thinking that it couldn't be Bella, but when she opened the door the girl with mousy brown hair rushed in. "Jesus, Bells! Your dad's a cop, what did you do sixty all the way here?" Dahlia joked, trying to ease the tension but Bella didn't even crack a smile. "I have tea on, let's let that finish brewing and then we can talk okay?" Bella nodded, but began pacing. This was troubling. Dahlia knew that one of her worst fears was about to be confirmed, but she wished that it wasn't true.

After the tea finished brewing, she poured two cups and put some sugar in both of them before the girls sat on the couch. "So," Dahlia began, tucking some hair behind her ear as she handed Bella a cup with her other, "What's happened Bells?" Bella went quiet, her whole body stilled and it unnerved Dahlia to a degree. "Bella?"

"They're vampires," Bella said. "It's a theory and the evidence is circumstantial at best – but, I mean, just look at the facts. I accidentally touched Edward's hand and he was cold as ice, they never eat, they never go to the reservation and their eyes change colors." Dahlia went quiet, only sipping her tea. "What do we do? Confront them?" Dahlia stilled.

"Honestly, I don't know. Jasper and I just confessed that we like each other last night," She let out a sigh. "I don't want to accuse him and he gets upset with me."

"But we need to know!" Bella said. "What if...what if they're just trying to lure us in to make us their meals?" Dahlia looked off to the side.

"I don't know." Dahlia sighed. "I'll ask Jasper over tonight and talk to him, since Mom's busy at the hospital more than likely." This was not a conversation she was looking forward to. However, she knew that if Bella was right, she didn't know what the outcome would be. "If we are right, what would happen to them? To us? Would they just pack up and move away again?"

"That would be too suspicious, I don't think they would kill us either – we both stand out in the community too much," Bella said and then sighed. "I'm talking to Edward on Monday, going to try to get the confidence to actually talk to him over the weekend." Bella downed the rest of her tea. "I figured you would want to hear this in person rather than over the phone, that's why I came over," She looked off to the side. Dahlia could tell her mind was going a mile a minute, and she reached out, touching her hand in an effort to calm her friend down.

"Bella, don't worry yourself to death. I don't think they would do anything." Dahlia smiled. "Now, go ahead and go home – Charlie has today off right? Why don't you go spend some time with him?" Bella nodded, gathering her jacket she had thrown off and went towards the door. "And be safe on the drive home. I'll see you at school on Monday, and I'll call you if Jasper confirms it." Bella nodded while Dahlia just smiled. After Bella was gone, Dahlia fished her phone out of her pocket and called Jasper. "Hey, you," Dahlia said with a soft smile.

"Hey, darlin' what are you up to?" Jasper asked.

"I was actually wondering if you would come over, I need to talk to you about something important." Dahlia said and then held her breath as she could hear subtle whispering over the other line. Jasper let out something that sounded like a sigh.

"Yeah, of course darlin', I'll be over in an hour," He said. Dahlia smiled, and was about to say bye when she stilled. "Hey, I love you," His voice sounded so sincere, so desperate that a part of her already knew that she knew what he was.

"I think I love you more, Jazz." She replied with a smile as she hung up the phone first. She felt tears threatening to spill, scared that if she did confront him and was right he would run off. Scared he would just disappear in the blink of eye, she didn't think she would mind if he killed her to be honest – at least she wouldn't have to live without him. A part of her had grown so attached the southern man that she couldn't fathom him not being a part of her life. She stayed on the couch, sipping her tea until it was out. She could have gotten up and made more, but she wanted to stay on the couch until Jasper showed up.

She didn't wait a full hour, maybe forty minutes when there was a knock on the door. She got up, opened it and saw him standing there. "Hey," She said with a soft smile.

"Have you been cryin'?" He asked, his hand going up to trace over her dried tears. She nodded. "Why? What's wrong?" The panic in his eyes and voice were so evident. She sighed, stepping away and taking his hand into hers as she led him into the living room. He stood, while she moved to stand in front of the couch.

"Do you remember the promise you made to me? About how you would never,_ ever_ lie to me?" Dahlia asked. "About anything?" Jasper nodded, and in her eyes she already knew. "It's going to make me sound crazy, but Jazz...are you a vampire?" Jasper's face went to guilt as he looked off to the side. "Jazz..." Her voice was desperate now, wanting to cry.

"Yes, my whole family is. Alice saw a vision where you and Bella knew, you both asking me and my brother about it." Jasper whispered, he seemed upset – but he didn't cry despite him looking like he wanted to. "Dahlia, I just...I shouldn't have gotten involved with you-"

"Are you breaking up with me?" Dahlia's voice hitched.

"Do you want to stay with me?" Jasper's head snapped around to face her. "I'm a monster, I've killed people – good people."

"I know, I know!" Dahlia's voice raised. "But...there's a part of me that breaks when I think about not having you in my life, Jazz." She took in a shaky breath, hiccuping. "And I want to work things out, I was just – scared – that you and your family would leave, and I don't want that." Jasper seemed surprised by this, he took a cautious step forward and when Dahlia didn't step back, he closed the distance and pulled her into a hug. "Just, promise me you'll never leave...please." She murmured into his chest.

"Darlin' they'll have to burn me for me to leave you," Jasper said and then kissed the top of her head. "How about we talk about this some and figure things out, okay?" Dahlia nodded, her hands gripping onto his shirt like it was her lifeline. She didn't know why she was so connected to Jasper, it raised some alarm bells in her mind – but she needed to know more about him, about _her_ vampire. And she was willing to do anything for it.


End file.
